Songs of the Years

Here at the New Yorker office, we spend lots of time listening to music, but not very much time listening to Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians’ hit song “Collegiate.” That’s easy to explain, since the song was a hit all the way back in 1925. But it’s also a shame, in a way: 1925 was the year that The New Yorker published its first issue, and in all the years since, as issue after issue has appeared, more and more songs have been released. This year, as the holiday season approached, we were in a celebratory mood, and I decided to create a playlist for our holiday party composed of one song from every year of the magazine’s existence. I started with “Collegiate” and went on from there, with selections from many of the century’s giants (Duke Ellington, Johnny Cash, Michael Jackson), and many lesser-known artists (Norman Greenbaum, Gary Numan).

At the party, the mix worked like a charm. Jazz and blues greeted the early arrivals, and as the party picked up, the mood became romantic (thanks to the big-band and vocal recordings of the late thirties and forties), energetic (thanks to early rock and roll like Fats Domino and Jackie Brenston in the early fifties), funky (James Brown in 1973, Stevie Wonder in 1974), and kitschy (the eighties), after which it erupted into a bright riot of contemporary pop and hip-hop (Rihanna! Kanye! M.I.A.! Lil Jon!). It was rumored, though never proven, that party guests were leaving right around the songs that marked their birth years. To celebrate eighty-five years of music that The New Yorker has been pleased to exist alongside of, here’s our party playlist.

1925: “Collegiate,” by Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians1926: “Fat Meat and Greens,” by Jelly Roll Morton1927: “Struttin’ With Some Barbecue,” by Louis Armstrong1928: “Statesboro Blues,” by Blind Willie McTell1929: “That’s How I Feel Today,” by The Little Chocolate Dandies1930: “It Happened in Monterey,” by Ruth Etting1931: “Farewell Blues,” by Cab Calloway1932: “Night And Day,” by Fred Astaire1933: “Tea for Two,” by Art Tatum1934: “Moonglow,” by Benny Goodman1935: “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter,” by Fats Waller1936: “Summertime,” by Billie Holiday1937: “Sweet Home Chicago,” by Robert Johnson1938: “Begin The Beguine,” by Artie Shaw1939: “Moonlight Serenade,” by Glenn Miller Orchestra1940: “New San Antonio Rose,” by Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys1941: “Jumpin’ Punkins,” by Duke Ellington1942: “Sleepy Lagoon,” by Harry James1943: “Paper Doll,” by The Mills Brothers1944: “Swinging on a Star (Single),” by Bing Crosby1945: “Scorpio,” by Mary Lou Williams1946: “Choo Choo Ch’boogie,” by Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five1947: “Serenade of the Bells,” by Jo Stafford1948: “Nature Boy,” by Nat King Cole1949: “Just Friends,” by Charlie Parker1950: “The Fat Man,” by Fats Domino1951: “Rocket 88,” by Jackie Brenston1952: “Lawdy Miss Clawdy,” by Lloyd Price1953: “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” by Hank Williams1954: “Work With Me Annie,” by Hank Ballard & The Midnighters1955: “Folsom Prison Blues,” by Johnny Cash1956: “Strode Rode,” by Sonny Rollins1957: “Mona (I Need You Baby),” by Bo Diddley1958: “Rock Billy Boogie,” by Johnny Burnette1959: “Along Came Jones,” by The Coasters1960: “Walk Don’t Run,” by The Ventures1961: “Shout Bamalama,” by Otis Redding1962: “Return To Sender,” by Elvis Presley1963: “Be My Baby,” by The Ronettes1964: “Nadine (Is It You?),” by Chuck Berry1965: “I Can’t Explain,” by The Who1966: “Day Tripper,” by The Beatles1967: “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” by Gladys Knight & The Pips1968: “White Light / White Heat,” by The Velvet Underground1969: “Israelites,” by Desmond Dekker1970: “Spirit in the Sky,” by Norman Greenbaum1971: “Family Affair,” by Sly & The Family Stone1972: “Superfly,” by Curtis Mayfield1973: “The Payback,” by James Brown1974: “You Haven’t Done Nothin’,” by Stevie Wonder1975: “The Ballroom Blitz,” by The Sweet1976: “Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker),” by Parliament1977: “Got to Give It Up—Pt. 1,” by Marvin Gaye1978: “Miss You,” by Rolling Stones1979: “Rock Lobster,” by The B-52’s1980: “Cars,” by Gary Numan1981: “Rapture,” by Blondie1982: “Buffalo Gals,” by Malcolm McLaren1983: “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” by Michael Jackson1984: “Head Over Heels,” by The Go-Go’s1985: “Perfect Way,” by Scritti Politti1986: “Walk This Way,” by Run-DMC1987: “Housequake,” by Prince1988: “Express Yourself ,” by N.W.A.1989: “Me Myself and I,” by De La Soul1990: “Love Will Never Do Without You,” by Janet Jackson1991: “Mama Said Knock You Out,” by LL Cool J1992: “Rump Shaker,” by Wreckx-N-Effect1993: “Return of the Crazy One,” by Digital Underground1994: “Whatta Man,” by Salt-N-Pepa1995: “California Love,” by 2Pac1996: “Where It’s At,” by Beck1997: “Hypnotize,” by The Notorious B.I.G.1998: “Intergalactic,” by Beastie Boys1999: “Vivrant Thing,” by Q-Tip2000: “Music,” by Madonna2001: “Get Ur Freak On,” by Missy Elliot2002: “Without Me,” by Eminem2003: “Crazy in Love,” by Beyonce, featuring Jay-Z2004: “Yeah,” by Usher, featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris2005: “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House,” by LCD Soundsystem2006: “SexyBack,” by Justin Timberlake2007: “Umbrella,” by Rihanna2008: “Paper Planes,” by M.I.A.2009: “Heads Will Roll,” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs2010: “Monster,” by Kanye West, featuring Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj and Bon Iver

UPDATE: Several intrepid readers have created online playlists of most of the songs in the mix. Alexey Grozny's YouTube playlist is probably the most universally accessible of the bunch. Tom Whitwell and ulyssestone both created Spotify playlists (Europe only), and Patrick Filler made an Rdio playlist. See the comments below for more details. Thank you all!